Taking Red Oak Fabrication Into the Future
This week we’re featuring the town of Red Oak, Iowa (pop. 5,415) and sharing some of the stories of rural revival happening here! With five retail stores opening up in the past year in and around their historic downtown square and a growing arts scene, plus some incredible historic home renovations, facade improvements, and efforts to welcome even more entrepreneurs, Red Oak is quickly becoming one of Iowa’s hottest destinations — and a great place to work, play, and live. Today’s guest blog post is from Jordan Fort of Red Oak Fabrication, a metal supplier, fabricator, and machine shop, which also happens to be the largest Carhartt retailer in southwest Iowa.
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Hey all! Red Oak Fabrication has been in the Fort family since 1913, and my brother Jacob and I are the fourth generation to continue in the business. Our great grandfather, Ted Fort, started Red Oak Machine in 1913 as a small engine and welding repair shop. When our grandfather and great uncle returned home from WWII they helped expand the business into an industrial gas supplier for Southwest Iowa.
Our father Jeff, who is the current owner of Red Oak Fabrication, started working for his Father and Uncle in 1978 as a route truck driver. He would purchase the business from his father in 1992. In 1993 Jeff bought the company’s first plasma table. Fast forward a short 26 years and we now have 70 employees and four locations in Red Oak with many avenues of business.
Jacob and I were fortunate enough to grow up around the business and knew this is where we would end up. In late 2014, Jacob decided it was time to move back home and start working for the family business. Jacob oversees business development and sales, but of course he is not just that. Everyone knows small business owners must play many roles. I joined the company in early 2015 and started working the new powder coat line.
We are very fortunate to be in Red Oak for this long and have the relationship with the location businesses. We are not the only long-lasting family business in town, nor will we be the last. The good thing about small communities is that everyone feels like family, and that is how we like to treat our employees.
Find out more about the rural revival happening in Red Oak, Iowa here:
EPISODE 73 // DARIC AND JILL O'NEAL OF JMERCANTILE AND ALLEY POYNER MACCHIETTO ARCHITECTURE
THE LALA PROJECT: MORE THAN A PUMPKIN PATCH
VOLUNTEERS ARE THE REAL STARS OF THE SHOW AT RED OAK GRAND THEATRE